590 Training & Testing Michalsik LB et al. Physical demands in male elite Team Handball … Int J Sports Med 2013; 34: 590–599 accepted after revision October 05, 2012 Bibliography DOI http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1055/s-0032-1329989 Published online: December 20, 2012 Int J Sports Med 2013; 34: 590–599 © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York ISSN 0172-4622 Correspondence Lars Bojsen Michalsik Department of Public Health Section of Sport Science Aarhus University Dalgas Avenue 4 8000 Aarhus C Denmark Tel.: + 45/8716/8614 Fax: + 45/8716/8378 lbmichalsik@health.sdu.dk Key words ● ▶ locomotion match analysis ● ▶ total distance covered ● ▶ high-intensity running ● ▶ positional differences ● ▶ temporary impaired performance Locomotion Characteristics and Match-Induced Impairments in Physical Performance in Male Elite Team Handball Players 16, 36] although more recent studies also exist [9, 10, 36, 39, 40]. Since both the nature of the game of TH and the scientific methods of analysis have developed considerably in the last decades, there is a need for a thorough analysis of the physical demands of modern elite TH in order to establish the physical requirements placed on elite players of today. Analysis of the physical demands in elite TH may be used to indicate the proportion of the total training that should con- sist of physical training, and to identify how dif- ferent physical training elements should be weighted. Knowledge of the working demands in any type of sport is a precondition for the plan- ning and execution of optimal training [27]. Further, it is relevant to examine to which extent differences exist in the physical demands Introduction ▼ The level of performance in modern Team Hand- ball (TH) is determined by the players’ technical, tactical, psychological/social and physical char- acteristics. All these elements are of high impor- tance in TH and also closely interlinked making TH a particularly complex type of sport. A high level of physical conditioning e. g. is required, if elite TH players should be able to exploit their technical and tactical qualities during an entire game [24]. Despite the considerable global spread of the sport, scientific data on the physi- ological aspects of the game of TH are limited. Moreover, the majority of studies are of an earlier date, and thus the latest development in the TH game is not taken into account [5, 6, 8, 13, 14, Authors L. B. Michalsik 1 , P. Aagaard 2 , K. Madsen 1 Affiliations 1 Department of Public Health, Section of Sport Science, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark 2 Institute of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark Abstract ▼ The purpose of this study was to determine the physical demands and match-induced impair- ments in physical performance in male elite Team Handball (TH) players in relation to playing position. Male elite TH field players were closely observed during 6 competitive seasons. Each player (wing players: WP, pivots: PV, backcourt players: BP) was evaluated during match-play using video recording and subsequently per- forming locomotion match analysis. A total dis- tance of 3 627 ± 568 m (group means ± SD) was covered per match with a total effective playing time (TPT) of 53:51 ± 5:52 min:s, while full-time players covered 3 945 ± 538 m. The mean speed was 6.40 ± 1.01 km · h − 1 . High-intensity running constituted only 1.7 ± 0.9 % of TPT per match cor- responding to 7.9 ± 4.9 % of the total distance cov- ered. An average of 1 482.4 ± 312.6 activity changes per player (n = 82) with 53.2 ± 14.1 high- intensity runs were observed per match. Total distance covered was greater in BP (3 765 ± 532 m) and WP (3 641 ± 501 m) than PV (3 295 ± 495 m) (p < 0.05), and WP performed more high-inten- sity running (10.9 ± 5.7 % of total distance covered) than PV (8.5 ± 4.3 %, p < 0.05) and BP (6.2 ± 3.2 %, p < 0.01). The amount of high-intensity running was lower (p < 0.05) in the second (130.4 ± 38.4 m) than in the first half (155.3 ± 47.6 m) correspond- ing to a decrease of 16.2 %. In conclusion, modern male elite TH is a complex team sport that comprises several types of move- ment categories, which during match-play place moderate-to-high demands on intermittent endurance running capacity and where the amount of high-intensity running may be high during brief periods of the match. Signs of fatigue-related changes were observed in terms of temporary impaired physical performance, since the amount of high-intensity running was reduced in the second half. Notably, physical demands differed between playing positions, with WP demonstrating a more intensive activity pattern than BP and PV, respectively. Downloaded by: University Library of Southern Denmark. Copyrighted material.